How many degrees are earned in engineering, and what subfields are most popular?

Main Finding

U.S. colleges and universities conferred 83,263 bachelor’s degrees in engineering in 2012 – a 37% increase over the 60,605 degrees conferred in 2002. The top 4 engineering subfields in 2012, in terms of the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded, were mechanical, electrical, civil, and chemical engineering.

U.S. colleges and universities conferred 43,150 master’s degrees in engineering in 2012 – a 65% increase over the 26,180 degrees conferred in 2002. All of the selected subfields increased by more than 50% between 2002 and 2012. The top 4 subfields in 2012, in terms of the number of master’s degrees awarded, were electrical, civil, mechanical, and industrial engineering. The top 3 subfields were also among the top 3 at the bachelor’s level (but ranking in a different order).

U.S. colleges and universities conferred 8,873 doctoral degrees in engineering in 2012 – a 71% increase over the 5,196 degrees conferred in 2002. The top 4 engineering subfields in 2012, in terms of the number of doctoral degrees awarded, were electrical, mechanical, chemical, and civil engineering. The top 4 subfields were also among the top 4 at the bachelor’s level (but ranking in a different order).

Key Observations

Mechanical engineering ranked first in number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2012 (20,889), followed by electrical (17,380) and civil (15,175) engineering. These three fields accounted for nearly two-thirds of all engineering degrees at the bachelor’s level: mechanical 25%, electrical 21%, and civil 18%.

Although aerospace engineering ranked sixth among the seven selected subfields (3,545 degrees, 4% of the total), it had the largest percentage change since 2002. The number of bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering more than doubled over the 10-year period. Four other subfields also showed increases above the 37% average for all of engineering: civil 71%, mechanical 56%, materials 42%, and chemical 40%.

The percentage change from 2002 to 2012 in bachelor’s degree awards in industrial engineering was much smaller, at 18%. Electrical engineering was the only subfield to have decreased in number (down 8% from 18,957 in 2002 to 17,380 in 2012), causing it to drop from first to second place among the seven subfields.

Electrical engineering ranked first in number of master’s degrees awarded in 2012 (12,642). Electrical engineering accounted for nearly twice the number of master’s degrees awarded in civil engineering, the second largest subfield (6,405). Not far behind was mechanical engineering (5,977 degrees) in third place, followed by industrial engineering (5,346) in fourth place.

The top 4 subfields accounted for 70% of all engineering degrees at the master’s level: electrical 29%, civil 15%, mechanical 14%, and industrial 12%.

Although aerospace engineering ranked sixth among the seven selected subfields (1,408 degrees, 3% of the total), it had the largest percentage change since 2002. The number of master’s degrees in aerospace engineering more than doubled over the 10-year period. (This was also true at the bachelor’s level.)

Two additional subfields showed increases in master’s degrees above the 65% average for all of engineering: mechanical 70% and civil 62%. The increases for the remaining subfields were: materials 59%, industrial 58%, electrical 53%, and chemical 51%.

Electrical engineering ranked first in number of doctoral degrees awarded in 2012 (2,475). Electrical engineering accounted for nearly twice the number of doctoral degrees awarded in mechanical engineering, the second largest subfield (1,277). In third place was chemical engineering with 969 doctoral degrees. Civil engineering ranked fourth with 922 degrees.

The top 4 subfields accounted for 64% of all engineering degrees at the doctoral level: electrical 28%, mechanical 14%, chemical 11%, and civil 10%.